Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. IV.djvu/225

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT 185 the treaty of commerce which had been in existence between the two nations for eighty years, and con gress confirmed his action in a joint resolution. Russia s claim was that her Jewish policy was a purely domestic matter, with which no other gov ernment had any business to meddle. The "dollar diplomacy" invented by Secretary Knox may be defined briefly as a reversal of the old practice of using diplomacy to advance the trade interests of the nation, by using trade to ad vance the nation s diplomatic prestige and useful ness. In the case, for instance, of the loan made by the six great powers to China, Mr. Knox did not wait for the American bankers to pray for a chance to participate, and then bring all the forces of diplomacy to bear in their aid, but advised their joining with the foreign bankers, and thus securing for the United States a proportional weight of influence in the governmental affairs of China. In Nicaragua and Honduras the situation presented still another aspect. The Monroe doctrine, under its most modern interpretation, advertises the United States to the world as sponsor for the weaker republics of the western hemisphere, and Mr. Knox felt that it was but fair to put a prac tical measure of power behind this theoretical accountability. To that end he wished to aid Nicaragua and Honduras in borrowing the money, and give confidence to intending lenders by treaties